Last week, during a meeting with Olympic volunteers, Putin reiterated that gay athletes and visitors to the Winter Olympics would not face discrimination. However, he told them to respect Russia's culture and traditions and "leave children in peace".

The statement – quite obviously – didn’t sit well with Jon Stewart.

“What the hell was that, Putin?” he exclaimed.“That’s like me saying, ‘We have no problems with Russians. Just please, if you come here, don’t f*ck our bears.’”